Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine - Special Edition Screencaps

I wanted to start a thread here in the Art Forum for screencaps and "beauty shots" (when I have time) from my "Doomsday Machine" project. These shots below are from the teaser and main credits which debut tonight (Friday, June 12, 2009). (ETA: The videos are online... please follow the link to view!)

The Enterprise
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Nothing left but rubble... and asteroids
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The Enterprise enters System L-374
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"Every solar system in this sector blasted to rubble... and still no sign of the Constellation."

The blue twinge irks me personally, but I certainly can't complain, given that it's appropriate given the color of the main star. Besides, everything else is not only beautiful but visibly improved over your previous stuff, though I question the appearance of....um, scanlines on the main viewer?

Downloading now ..... Prof, I've been following your work on this since the "get go". I'm really looking forward to seeing this. What I've seen to date (and remember fondly) has been outstanding. Good luck on your continuing work. I'm really looking forward to your take on the battle sequences. It will be cool to see how it compares to what CBS Digital did on their "TOS-redux".

Beautiful. And I certainly don't want to sound like i'm trying to knock down your work, but you might want to work on your texturing a bit. Most of the shots looked good, but a couple looked plastic. But all in all, wonderful work. I'm not sure i'd have the patience or the skill for such a project.

Beautiful. And I certainly don't want to sound like i'm trying to knock down your work, but you might want to work on your texturing a bit. Most of the shots looked good, but a couple looked plastic.

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It's actually more of a lighting problem, and I'll bet I know which shots you're talking about--the two where the Enterprise first flies into System L-374 and later when she approaches the derelict Constellation. The nearly head-on angle between the camera and the L-374 light source just doesn't look quite right on the engineering hull, especially in the latter shot.

Those actually were two of the first "redos" and they're the ones I'm least satisfied with, but they're OK enough, and besides, I told myself, "self, you're not going to endlessly re-tweak everything or you'll never finish!" So what I'm basically doing here is trying to get it as good as I can, but move on after a certain point. If I have time left at the end of my project before my deadline (which is a nebulous target of "beat the 2009 Star Trek Blu-Ray release"), then I'll come back and fiddle with some of this stuff. Thanks for the feedback!

G_R_E_A_T work Professor Moriarty, I seriously appreciate all the time and work that goes into that video. Camera movement was fantastic. My only very minor crit, is that the Enterprise is generally over-lit. It lacks enough light-dark contrast on the hull which as mentioned earlier, gives it a plastic-ey look at times. Maybe the specularity is a touch high.

What software did you use to track your CGI on the Enterprise viewscreen? Or did you roto-scope it by hand?

I wish that the brightness of the ship had been a little more like this, closer to… you guessed it, the original Enterprise. The NX appeared dark and dingy on actual show. Against space it was often hard to see. Not to my taste. An Enterprise should not be pushed into the background, it should show boldly. It’s gallant and bright, and wears a white hat. But that was all part of the Berman look. If it stood out too much it was pushed back.

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Doug could have been channeling me when he wrote that. The Enterprise isn't just a flying hunk of tin; she's an important supporting character of the series. In this particular episode, I'd even argue she's one of the stars (with her sister ship Constellation being the guest star).